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Gregg Rosenthal

Goal Line Stand

Week 5 Rankings

Chris Johnson has been stuffed for a one-yard gain or less 34 times this season. He's gained more than 10 yards on a run five times. While Johnson hasn't been a disaster in fantasy leagues, he's been one of the least effective running backs in football so far. His usually excellent receiving game has suffered too; he's somehow averaging 3.2 yards-per-reception.

So what's going on here?

Johnson has always been a boom or bust runner, but this is easily the worst stretch of his career. When I watch Titans games, I see Johnson working very hard for very little gain. Teams are stacking eight and nine defenders in the box against him. But that was the case last year.

The big difference is on the offensive line. The team got rid of Kevin Mawae at center, who was supposed to be their weak link. But now leaks are springing at every spot. And the Titans passing game hasn't proven it can beat one-on-one matchups on the outside.

I think Johnson will bounce back and have a strong season. In fantasy leagues, I'd buy low. But that evaluation is not based on anything I've seen this year. It's on his incredible history.

Johnson ate up neutral matchups last year. He didn't have one run over eight yards against the Broncos. Against New York, he only started having a good fantasy day on his 29th carry of the day.

I'd rather own Adrian Peterson right now than Johnson, but who else would you rather bet on? Johnson would still be my No. 2. He's managed to put decent numbers even when he's struggling. Bigger days should be ahead, but it's time to start seeing it. Johnson owners didn't draft him for borderline RB1 production.

QB Going up:Eli Manning gets his turn beating up on the Texans. … Kyle Orton has earned matchup proof status. … Shaun Hill has put up good stats, but Sam Bradford has the far easier matchup in their showdown. … With a week to prepare and a neutral matchup, Kevin Kolb should do better than people expect. He'll get yards. … Joe Flacco has bounced back from his ugly start. Denver is a plus matchup.

QB Going down:Donovan McNabb is just as unreliable in Washington as he was in Philadelphia. … Don't expect Randy Moss to save Brett Favre's season – not in this matchup. Moss can't block for Favre. … There's no way you can try to guess whether Good Garrard or Bad Garrard will show up. … Gut feeling Vince Young will air it out this week, for some of the reasons I talked about above.

Editor's Note: For exclusive projections of all ranked players and tons of extra stats tools and columns, check out Season Pass.

Chris Johnson has been stuffed for a one-yard gain or less 34 times this season. He's gained more than 10 yards on a run five times. While Johnson hasn't been a disaster in fantasy leagues, he's been one of the least effective running backs in football so far. His usually excellent receiving game has suffered too; he's somehow averaging 3.2 yards-per-reception.

So what's going on here?

Johnson has always been a boom or bust runner, but this is easily the worst stretch of his career. When I watch Titans games, I see Johnson working very hard for very little gain. Teams are stacking eight and nine defenders in the box against him. But that was the case last year.

The big difference is on the offensive line. The team got rid of Kevin Mawae at center, who was supposed to be their weak link. But now leaks are springing at every spot. And the Titans passing game hasn't proven it can beat one-on-one matchups on the outside.

I think Johnson will bounce back and have a strong season. In fantasy leagues, I'd buy low. But that evaluation is not based on anything I've seen this year. It's on his incredible history.

Johnson ate up neutral matchups last year. He didn't have one run over eight yards against the Broncos. Against New York, he only started having a good fantasy day on his 29th carry of the day.

I'd rather own Adrian Peterson right now than Johnson, but who else would you rather bet on? Johnson would still be my No. 2. He's managed to put decent numbers even when he's struggling. Bigger days should be ahead, but it's time to start seeing it. Johnson owners didn't draft him for borderline RB1 production.

QB Going up:Eli Manning gets his turn beating up on the Texans. … Kyle Orton has earned matchup proof status. … Shaun Hill has put up good stats, but Sam Bradford has the far easier matchup in their showdown. … With a week to prepare and a neutral matchup, Kevin Kolb should do better than people expect. He'll get yards. … Joe Flacco has bounced back from his ugly start. Denver is a plus matchup.

QB Going down:Donovan McNabb is just as unreliable in Washington as he was in Philadelphia. … Don't expect Randy Moss to save Brett Favre's season – not in this matchup. Moss can't block for Favre. … There's no way you can try to guess whether Good Garrard or Bad Garrard will show up. … Gut feeling Vince Young will air it out this week, for some of the reasons I talked about above.

Editor's Note: For exclusive projections of all ranked players and tons of extra stats tools and columns, check out Season Pass.

RB Going up: If Jahvid Best is healthy enough to play on turf, you have to play him. … Look for Ryan Mathews to take over most of the carries in San Diego again in a plus matchup. … Michael Bush should get 20 carries for the Raiders if Darren McFadden is out. … Ahmad Bradshaw is essentially a must start. I'd rather have him for the rest of the season than Mathews, Cedric Benson, and many other high-draft backs. … Fred Jackson can be used right away because Jacksonville's defense is struggling. … LeSean McCoy is ranked as if he'll start. … Felix Jones is expected to become a bigger part of the offense.

WR Going up:Hakeem Nicks has evolved into a must start every week. … Max Hall can't hurt Larry Fitzgerald. Really. We've hit bottom. … Overall, I think the Vikings trade helps Randy Moss a little. He was starting to become a smaller part of the Patriots offense. … Stick with Santana Moss coming off a down week. He'll get enough targets to make it worth it. … Eddie Royal and Brandon Lloyd are becoming difficult to sit as WR3s. … Expect Santonio Holmes to be the Jets top receiver in his first game back. … We're betting big on Kenny Britt this week and for the rest of the season. He's the guy Vince Young looks to in the red zone and few players are better with the ball in the air.